The Investigative Committee of Russia has reported a strange death, by an axe, of a man involved in black magic.
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Anton Shabanov, 33, practised occult rites, which involved the alleged invocation of demonic beings for his personal motive of getting back with his estranged wife, Lyubov, 29.
Desperate spouse
The engineer husband turned to witchcraft and wizardry in a desperate attempt to win his wife back. She had left him less than a year after their wedding. Even though they hadn’t officially got a divorce, they had been living separate lives.
A friend of the deceased, Anton, later told Russia's 360TV:
Naturally, he was upset, but I cannot imagine he would be involved in rites to bring her back.
But the Committee reiterated:
The court established that a local resident, wishing to restore relations with his wife, decided to resort to an occult ritual.
Axed to death
In Shabanov’s last effort, he took help from a convicted criminal, Nikolay Ivanov, 32.
The Committee reported that:
To perform the ceremony, he needed to bury their personal belongings in a deserted place outside the city.
While digging the hole to bury the belongings, Shabanov and Ivanov broke out into a quarrel. Once, Ivanov lost his temper, he axed Shabanov in the head.
The police statement said:
While digging a pit, (Ivanov) spoke negatively about this ceremony and the victim's wife, as a result of which a quarrel arose between the men.
The conflict escalated into a fight, during which (Ivanov) struck multiple blows with an axe to the head and neck of the Astrakhan resident, and then covered the body with branches and fled the scene of the crime.
Upon detention, the convict confessed to his crimes and was then condemned to a ‘strict regime’ labour camp by the Privolzhsky District Court in Astrakhan.
The individual agreed to adhere to the conditions of paying £20,700 and serve his time in prison for nine years.
